Attachment for cutting a collapsible tube and dispensing material therefrom



Sept. 17, 1963 -H. M. HANSEN 3,104,032

ATTACHMENT FOR TING A COLLAPSIBLE TUBE AND Ms S MATERIAL 'I'ITIEREFROM ed u 18, 1960 47 INVENTOR. 6/ 144mm fllllfflfiffi51l BYW T? 4/2 4/ flrramvfm- United States Patent 3,104,032 ATTACHMENT FGR CUTTING A CQLLAPSIBLE AND DHSI'ENSING MATERIAL THERE- M Harold Milton Hansen, Mountainside, N.J., assignor to American Can Company, New York, N.Y., a corporation of New Jersey Filed Aug. 18, 1960, Ser. No. 50,343 1 Claim. (Cl. 222-91) This invention relates to collapsible containers of the tube type for packaging food in paste form or medicinal pastes and jellies to be taken by mouth, generally referred to hereinafter as a paste product and to an opening and dispensing attachment for use therewith which enables the purchaser to make use of the container contents directly without the necessity for first emptying it into a dish or other container, nor require squeezing the contents into a separately held spoon.

An object of the present invention is to provide a single element attachment for a closed-neck collapsible tube capable of being connected to the neck of the tube, puncturing a diaphragm at the tube neck as the attachment is being connected, acting as a spoon to stave the contents of the tube, and also providing conduit means for thereafter conducting the contents of the tube from the interior thereof into the bowl of the spoon upon merely squeezing the collapsible tube without removal of the attachment from the tube.

Another object of the invention is to provide an attachment for the neck of a collapsible tube as aforesaid which can be readily manufactured by molding from resinous or plastic material without noticeable or dis figuring mold parting lines.

Additional objects, features and advantages will hereinafter appear as the description proceeds.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the attachment of the invention shown connected to a collapsible tube, fragmentarily depicted;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of the device shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an end elevation looking from the right towards the left in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal section taken substantially on line 44 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is an end elevation-of the attachment alone looking from the left towards the right in FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a section taken substantially on line 6-6 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is an exploded view showing the arrangement of mold parts used in making the attachment of the invention with such attachment shown in freshly removed relation thereto.

Referring to the drawing, there is shown a collapsible tube 11 of conventional form which may be made of any suitable material, but is preferably made by the conventional process of impact extruding aluminum. The interior of the tube may be suitably prepared, "as by coating or the like to receive soft pasty food products such as prepared baby foods, e.g. puree of vegetables, stewed fruit, and the like, or other materials of pasty consistency Patented Sept. 17, 1963 portion is an annular punch or cutter 21 designed to engage the diaphragm 15 when the cap portion is partly threaded on the neck 13, and to partially cut out the diaphragm, then swing it interiorly of the container to open the neck and thereby release the contents for use.

Integral with cap portion 19 and projecting axially therefrom is a hollow stem or shank 23 which carries at its other end a utensil in the form of the bowl of a spoon 25. Also integral with cap portion 19 and project ing laterally therefrom are wings 27 which can be grasped manually and used to thread the cap portion 19 onto the neck '13, especially while piercing the diaphragm 15. The bore of the shank, designated by numeral 24 connects the hollow cutter 21 with the spoon bowl 25.

Preferably the parts are furnished on retail shelves as a new item of manufacture and sale in the form of a package. The sealed tube containing a product to be taken by mouth, e.g. prepared baby food, 'may have its neck sterilized and protected by any suitable device such as an auxiliary cap or a shrunk-on band of regenerated cellulose film. Preferably attached to the tube in an individual sterile envelope will be the attachment 17. The whole makes a convenient package ready for instant use and prompt disposal when emptied.

To make use of such a package it is merely necessary to remove the sterility protecting caps, envelopes, and the like, if any, and then thread the cap portion 19 of the attachment 17 onto the neck 13 of the collapsible tube 11. The wings 19 make this particularly convenient, especially since some force may be needed to puncture the diaphragm 15 in the process. They help to provide the extra purchase necessary to that end, thus avoiding the possible tendency on the part of the user to grasp and perhaps contaminate the spoon bowl in the process. When the attachment is screwed home, the diaphragm 15 will have been pierced and swung to one side so that the container 11 will be open and ready for use. By squeezing the container, the contents in an appropriate amount can be forced through the bore or passage 24 into the spoon bowl 25, by which it can .then be carried directly to the mouth of the person being served. To perform this operation the container can conveniently be used as if it were the handle of the spoon. As soon as the required amount of the contents has been dispensed, the container 11 and attachment 17 can be discarded.

The attachment of the invention is preferably molded in one piece in a single molding operation, and a preferred shape for this purpose has been devised which permits the same to be molded as a complete smoothly finished article requiring no flash removal or other secondary operations.

It will be noted that one special characteristic feature of the attachment shape is that the stem or shank 23 has an upper surface 29 which is preferably fiat and coplanar with the upper surface 31 of the spoon bowl. In any event, however, the upper surface 29 has two sharp bounding corners 33, 33 which form continuations of the upper bounding corner 37 of the surface 31. Likewise, the upper corners 39 of the top surfaces of the Wings 27 are sharp and form continuations of the corhers 33, 33. Because of the shape features just mentioned it is possible to mold the attachment 17 in a simple fashion in the manner particularly illustrated in FIG. 7. Here it can be seen that the lower parts of the attach-. ment including the bowl bottom, under surfaces of the shank 23, the wings 27 and the lower exterior surface of the cap portion 19 can all be formed by a complex recess 42 sunk into a first mold part 41, which may also have a suitably located sprue passage 44 for charging the mold cavity with plastic material. Placed on top of this is a second mold part 43 which primarily provides 3 a plane surface which closes the first mold part and establishes therewith the upper corners 33, 33, 37 and 39 heretofore mentioned, which corners combine to form a parting line on the molded piece which because of its strategic corner location is wholly imperceptible to the casual observer.

The second mold part also includes a depending proe jection 45 for forming the interior surfaces of the spoon bowl, which projection also preferably includes a flat vertical face 4-7 for a purpose which will presently appear. Sunk upwardly into the mold part 43 is also a recess 49 which mates with an end portion of recess 42 to complete the outer surface of cap portion 19.

Designed to cooperate with the mold parts 41 and 43 is a plug 51 which has a plate 53 designed to fit against suitable positioning end surfaces 55, 57 of the mold parts to provide therewith an urmoticeable parting line located at the sharp lip of the cap portion 19. The plug 51 also carries a boss 59 shaped to form the interior threads of the cap portion 19 as well as the annular cutter 21, and an axial pin 61 extends from the boss to project into the mold when the parts are closed. Pin 61 meets the surface 47 of the projection 45 and thereby provides the open bore 24 through the shank 23.

From the foregoing it can be seen that I have provided an improved package consisting of a sealed collapsible tube, and an improved opening and dispensing attachment therefor, capable of rendering the use and handling of materials to be taken by mouth, such as prepared baby foods or medicines, much more convenient than heretofore.

It is thought that the invention and many of its attendant advantages will be understood from the foregoing description, and it will be apparent that various changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention or sacrificing all of its material advantages, the form hereinbefore described being merely a preferred embodiment thereof.

I claim:

A dispenser combination for the oral administration of food paste products, comprising a collapsible metal container body including an externally threaded neck portion hermetically sealed by a relatively thin integral diaphragm spaced inwardly of the outer end of said neck portion and a one-piece molded plastic attachment for said container body and eiiective to partially sever said diaphragm and to dispense said paste product from said container body, said attachment comprising an internally threaded cap portion receivable upon said container neck portion, a tubular shank portion integral with said cap portion and extending outwardly in one direction therefrom, an annular stern portion also integral with said cap portion and extending inwardly in an opposite direction interiorly of said cap portion in concentrically spaced relation therewith, the outer diameter of said stem portion being so sized with respect to the inner diameter of said container neck portion as to be slida'ble therein in guiding bearing relation therewith, said annular stem portion having a continuous and uninterrupted terminal edge disposed in a plane obliquely inclined relative to the longitudinal axis of said stern portion and being provided with a portion adjacent said terminal edge acutely angled from the outer surface to the inner surface of said stem portion about the entire periphery thereof to form an acutely angled cutting edge at the outer periphery of said stem portion at said terminal edge, said cutting edge being engageable with the periphery of said diaphragm during threading of said cap portion on said container neck portion to first partially out said diaphragm from said neck portion and then swing said diaphragm thereinto without being completely severed therefrom to completely open said neck portion for the discharge thercthrough of said paste portion from said container body when a squeezing force is applied thereto, a spoon bowl portion integral with said shank portion at the end thereof opposite said cap portion for receiving said paste product from said container body and through said shank portion after partial severance of said diaphragm and upon squeezing of said container body, and a pair of opposed Wings extending radially outwardly from said cap portion in integral relation therewith for facilitating hand manipulation of said attachment at apoint remote from said spoon bowl portion to thereby avoid contamination of said bowl portion by the hands of the manipulator.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,044,560 Morgan et al Nov. 19, 1912 1,996,184 Werthner Apr. 2, 1935 2,142,293 Waite Jan. 3, 1939 2,149,698 Humphrey Mar. 7, 1939 2,152,001 Temple Mar. 28, 1939 2,252,119 Edmonds Aug. 12, 1941 2,442,648 Goldman June 1, 1948 2,671,577 Remington et a1. Mar. 9, 1954 2,771,218 ienderson Nov. 20, 1956 2,849,156 Mansted Aug. 26, 1958 2,873,836 Wiskel et al Feb. 17, 1959 FOREIGN PATENTS 673,546 France Jan. 16, 1930 

